For the Estonian Patent Office, 2021 was a year of numerous renewals as well as preparation for big changes.
Annual Report 2021
The Estonian Patent Office is a government agency under the Ministry of Justice. The office was established on 23 May 1919.
In 2021, the Estonian Patent Office had the Patent Department, the Trade Mark Department, the Registry Department and the Financial and Administrative Department. The Industrial Property Board of Appeal also operates under the office.
The protection of industrial property is an inseparable part of the constitutional legal order. Industrial property is protected under § 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, providing that the property of every person is inviolable and equally protected.
The Estonian Patent Office communicates with WIPO, EPO, EUIPO and the Nordic, Baltic and European Intellectual Property Offices on a daily basis.
Inventions can be protected as patents or utility models on the grounds of the Patent Act and the Utility Model Act.
The protection of industrial designs can be applied for on the grounds of the Industrial Designs Protection Act. An application or registration system is applied for the registration of industrial designs.
It is possible to apply for the protection of trade marks under the Trade Marks Act and the EU legal acts concerning trade marks are also valid here. Trade mark registration applications can be filed online via the portal of electronic filing.
According to the Geographical Indication Protection Act, the registration of a geographical indication is subject to the application or registration system. It is distinguished from other intellectual property rights by the lack of a specific owner and the indefinite duration of protection.
The Board of Appeals is an independent pre-trial institution that solves appeals filed to contest the decisions made by the Estonian Patent Office in cases prescribed in the legal acts: complaints concerning the decision, registration procedure, refusal or delay of the registration procedure.
Here you will find information about the publications of the Estonian Patent Office, media channels, consultations, website and database usage statistics and information events.
The Estonian Patent Office regularly organizes events in order to raise the intellectual property awareness of different target groups. In 2021, people were most interested in trade mark protection, but there has also been a significant increase in interest in information events on inventions.
It is possible to use numerous e-services of the Estonian Patent Office through the website (www.epa.ee), including filling out and sending new applications for registration of industrial property rights and using the electronic search databases.
By the end of the year there were 57 employees in the office. The percentage of voluntary turnover was 1.7.
The State Budget received more than 3.8 million euros from the Estonian Patent Office’s state fees.